Improvement in handles for files



H. K. AUSTIN.

Handles for Files.

Patented Feb. 11,1873.

Fig.1.

mbzess'e's Wi meow UNITED STATES ATENT FFICE.

HENRY KNIGHT AUSTIN, OF CHARLESTOWN, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGN'OR TO HIMSELFAND GEORGE V. MILLETT, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN HANDLES FOR FILES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 135,684, dated February11,1873.

tached or detached; and consists not only of a clamp portion so composedof a fixed and a movable abutment or jaw and a feed-screw as to graspopposite edges of a file and adhere tenaoiously thereto, but also of ahandle portion, which rises above the clamp in order that when desirablethe workmans hand may pass above and over the work, the device beingintended for surface-filing more espe cially-that is to say, where it isdesirable to produce a uniformly flat and true surface.

The drawing accompanying this specification represents in Figure l aperspective view, and in Fig. 2 a cross-section, of my invention, Fig. 3being an end elevation of the clamping portion of the same.

In the drawing, A denotes the head or stock of the implement as anoblong rectangle in form, and formed at one end with a stationary jaw orabutment, a, and at the opposite carrying a movable jaw or abutment, Z),of like size and depth, the connection between the two being a slidingone by means of a shelf-groove or dovetail joint of ordinaryconstruction, while the extreme depth of each jaw or its file-claspingportion '0 is less than the thickness of the thickest portion of suchsize of file as the device may be applicable to.

The movable jaw b is fed toward or away from the fixed abutment a bymeans of a feed-screw, 01, one end of which is swiveled within theabutment, as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawing, while its body screwsthrough the movable jaw, as shown.

In lieu of swiveling the screw d within the abutment a, as stated, itmaybe simply inserted therein and the movable jaw forced away from thestationary one by the hand, the screw serving in either instance toforce the jaws tightly up to the file and clamp it firmly between them,as shown in Fig. l of the draw- The handle portion of the implement isshown at B as a curved or arched bar rising above and extending rearwardfrom the base A, the rear arm or post 0 being of such length as to restupon the fore part of the file or the point thereof, as shown in Fig. 1of the drawing.

My present invention, though perh aps trifiin g in point of mechanicalconstruction, is, nevertheless, a valuable one, as it not only permitsan artisan to obtain a very firm gripe upon a file and use it with case,but enables him to file with comparative celerity and frecdoina flatsurface.

The value of my invention will be at once apparent to all mechanics, whoare aware of the difficulty' of accomplishing surface-filingsatisfactorily. In fact, few mechanics are capable of it.

In conclusion, I would state that I do not, broadly, claim a removablefile-handle composed of a clamp portion and a bent or curved arm,adapted to bear upon the top of the file in front of the clamp. This, Iam aware, is not new. My claim is limited to the construction of thejawed head or clamp, adapting it especially to be applied to the edgesof the file proper, and rendering it impossible for the jaws to extendbelow the working-surface of the file.

That I therefore claim as my invention is The combination, with handle Band post or arm 0, of the head A provided with a sta tionary jaw, a, anda sliding jaw, b, operated by screw d, the said jaws being provided withworking-faces parallel with each other and adapted to grasp the oppositeedges of the tile proper, and being of a depth less than the thicknessof the file, so that they cannot extend below the working-surface of thelatter,

as set forth.

HENRY K. AUSTIN.

Witnesses F. CURTIS, W. E. BOARDMAN.

